Views of women and men were similar; 40 percent of men liked Woods, compared with 39 percent of women, the poll showed.

Woods' woes started late in November when he crashed his car outside his Florida mansion. Authorities issued a citation for careless driving, and he was given a $164 fine.

Woods was not required to talk to police about the wreck and declined to talk with investigators on several occasions.

In the week after the crash, Woods apologized for "transgressions" that let his family down. The same day, US Weekly published a report alleging that Woods had an affair with Jaimee Grubbs, a 24-year-old cocktail waitress.

US Weekly's report followed a National Enquirer article before the crash that the athlete was having an affair with New York nightclub hostess Rachel Uchitel, an assertion she vigorously denied, according to The New York Post.

After that, several other women came forward alleging to have had liaisons with Woods.

Shortly after, Woods posted an admission of infidelity on his Web site and said he was taking a break from golf to focus on his family.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted by telephoning 1,160 adult Americans, including 259 African-Americans and 786 whites. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.